Not sure if this is technically iced tea or lemonade, but whatever……………….
I remember growing up, at family picnics, one of my mother's sisters used to make the most incredible Peach Lemonade. She was from Georgia, and I remember her with dozens of sliced peaches on the picnic table, huge lemons, that was such a treat.
She would pour the divine concoction into these old heavy glass preserve jars, packed with ice, a slice of peach in each. The only other time I've ever seen kids rush to get a treat like that was when we heard the music from the ice cream truck. Life was so simple then…………
Here is a cosmopolitan twist to those amazing glasses of Peach Lemonade at those family picnics in my childhood, with cancer fighting green tea and healthy sweeteners.
……just in time for the summer
"Georgia Peach" Lemonade
* 4 cups water (more water can be added later)
* 3 tea bags, I'm into organic green tea these days
* 1/2 cup loosely packed organic mint leaves
* 2 Cups Coarsely Chopped Organic Peaches *Organic Peach Wedges (for garnish)
* 1 cup of juice from organic lemons, about 6,
(and use as much of the lemon pulp as desired)
* Optional 10 oz. of Voss Sparkling Water
* Optional Taste Nirvana Coconut Water, as part of the liquid base to help sweeten the mix, adds a great interesting taste, and helps adding sugar.
Sweeteners
Sweetener such as quality wild raw honey (my current fav is Manuka Honey) because of its pour-ability and deep rich taste, get list of fake honey here
I find using Coconut Water as part of the liquid base is the easiest most natural wat to sweeten up any summertime drink. I'd recommend Taste Nirvana Coconut Water, this stuff is INSANELY GOOD!!!
Coconut Palm Sugar
as an update to this article, my current favorite sweetener is Coconut Sugar (read about it here)
Read my list of Sweeteners to Avoid Here
Combine the water (not the sparkling water, the regular water) and peaches in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. If using Coconut Palm Sugar, add it here also. You can add some honey here also, but the heat destroys the natural honey enzymes and nutrients, so I like to add some the honey at the end to keep nutrients in. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes. Place peach mixture in a blender; let stand for 20 minutes. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender.
Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid. Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Refrigerate for 8 hours, better still overnight, along with the rest of the recipe. Afterwards, Press peach mixture through a sieve over a bowl, reserving liquid; discard solids (I don't discard, I freeze peach solids to throw into blender for my daily smoothies).
Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan; add tea bags and 1/2 cup mint leaves. Boil 1 minute; remove from heat. Cover and steep 10 minutes. Remove and discard tea bags and mint. Pour into a container; add peach nectar, lemon juice and pulp, add the sweetener (be conservative on amount of sweetener because you can add more later) Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight.
Pour chilled tea mixture into a punch bowl. Stir in [optional] icy cold Voss Sparkling Water before serving. If opting not to use sparkling water, add @ 10 oz regular icy cold water, or whatever amount gets desired taste. Garnish, if desired.
You have to "play around" with the amount of ingredients, to get the desired taste. I not a big fan of "Too Sweet", I like it more tart with heavy fruit flavor. Add more water at your discretion. Multiply ingredients to serve more people, but I would advise starting with the original recipe, to get a few glasses, and see what it taste like to you before multiplication of ingredients .
Note: My Manuka Honey is very "pourable" but if using a more solid Wild Raw Honey, it works better to dissolve in blender with a little of the liquid mixture, and then pour back into the remainder of mixture.
~stay healthy~
you might also like……
The "Cool School" , Healthy/Delicious Summer drink recipes (click here or photo below)
click here or the photo below to see all my articles in "The Healthy Chef's Corner"
6 Responses
Your hot tea link doesn't natch the name of your morning tea.
You’re right I made the change thanks………….
Could I use some of your photos and/or recipes in a monthly mortgage newsletter, if I cite the source and provide a link to this blog?
yeah use whatever you want.
Thanks Doug!
No problem, ENJOY!!!